Kobudō, Sanseru, and Ramen: A Weekend with Ōshiro Sensei in Düsseldorf

Last weekend, I spent my time in Düsseldorf, the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia.

As many already know, we have been publishing our interviews with masters from Okinawa for almost two years. One of these interviews, which we conducted last year and which was published in March of this year, was with Ōshiro Zen’ei Sensei. Ōshiro Sensei lived in Düsseldorf for a period and came into contact with Japanese guests there. One of these Japanese, Hiura Sensei, also discovered Matayoshi Kobudō for himself and founded the Okinawa Kobudo Verband Deutschland e.V. in 1986, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year.

Before traveling to Düsseldorf, we spent a few days in Belgium. On Friday, we continued to the Rhine metropolis. After checking in, we first made a detour to our favorite Japanese restaurant to enjoy Japanese cuisine once again …

The seminar with Ōshiro Sensei began on Saturday and lasted for two intensive days. I already knew some of the participants from Pforzheim, while others were new faces. Like almost all Kobudō seminars, this one began with the Bō, including Hojo-Undō Dai Ichi, Ni, and San, before moving on to the two kata developed by Ōshiro Sensei: Kiso Ichi and Kiso Ni – of course, followed by partner exercises.

After a short break, the training continued with Tunkwa. Here, too, we started with Hojo-Undō and partner exercises before practicing the kata Kiso Ichi. As always, the day passed far too quickly.

In the evening, the seminar shifted to the more relaxed part of the weekend: We went to a traditional German restaurant to unwind and enjoy ourselves.

The second day began at 10:00 a.m., and we picked up right where we had left off on Saturday. On the program were Tunkwa Kiso Ichi and the kata Matayoshi no Tunkwa Dai Ichi, followed by training with the Sai, again including Hojo-Undō and kata practice. The last thirty minutes were devoted to the Kama, concluding with the kata “Kama no Tī.”

During the seminar, I took the opportunity to ask Ōshiro Sensei a question about the Sanseru of the Shōdōkan. I also had my author’s copy of Toshiya signed and picked up the second volume of his latest book – I had already had the first volume signed last year in Pforzheim.